CHARGING & INFRASTRUCTURE
CHARGING & INFRASTRUCTURE
Plug-in charging is the new convention as battery swapping grows & shows potential for wider use while introducing flexibility through battery-as-a-service
t ’ s not very often you can sum up a conversation in a one-liner that addresses both the challenge and opportunity at the same time .
“ Battery swapping is the answer to the question everyone ' s been asking : ‘ show me an electric car that I can recharge as quickly as I can refuel my petrol or diesel car , and I ' m interested ’.”
This was an exciting conversation to have with Managing Director for NIO UK , Matt Galvin , who indulged us with some insights from the company , which just so happens to be the first to successfully bring battery-swapping technologies to the EV market . And what a way to do it – releasing a car that functions seamlessly with a Power Swap Station and packaging this all together with autonomous solutions that take care of the work for you .
In essence , NIO has exceeded the expectations alluded to in the aforementioned quote , because with a NIO , the driver has the option to charge the car hands free . In fact , the driver does very little in the battery swapping process . Changing the battery of any NIO vehicle can be achieved from the car and is fully automated , meaning the car itself will align with the Power Swap Station to ensure a successful change of component .
56 [ July 2023 ] EVMAGAZINE . COM